The Unnatural Archive: Ficlets and Drabbles
by paynesgrey
Summary: This is a collection of drabbles and ficlets about Henry, Jasper, and Maggie from the tv series, Unnatural History, with a variety of ratings, themes, and pairings. In-Progress.
1. The Invitation

AN: Written for the "Surprise" theme at fanfic_bakeoff on Livejournal. Word Count: 300. Rating: PG. Pairing: Henry/Jasper, implied H/J/M.

The Invitation

Maggie should be surprised. She should be at least, a little bit shaken up by their news.

Only she's not, and she acts as if there's nothing out of the ordinary in hearing her two best friends, both cousins, reveal their ongoing clandestine relationship.

Henry smiles brightly, unaffected, but Jasper is starting to freak.

"You're really okay with this?" Jasper asks.

Maggie shrugs and rolls her eyes. "Come on, Jasper. With you two, I've seen way worse. I've been attacked, kidnapped and thrown into car trunks and underground dungeons, not too mention almost killed. I can totally handle your standard gay outing."

"Standard?" Jasper croaks, and then whispers. "But we're _cousins_."

"Yeah, which Henry has described as being typical in many cultures around the world," Maggie counters, and Henry nods in agreement.

"Jasper, I think Maggie is taking this very well, so I don't understand why you want to ruin it," Henry offers.

"I'm not..." he starts, but turns to pout at his cousin.

"I do admit," Henry says congenially, "as fun as it is, we wouldn't mind if you came along as well, Maggie."

Maggie prompts freezes; if the outing doesn't surprise her, this does.

"Wait, did you just invite me into a threesome?" Maggie asks, a little too loudly. Jasper looks around nervously; Henry, as usual, isn't fazed. He turns to Jasper, searching for affirmation.

Jasper's eyes widen as he thinks about it. "Wow, I mean...yeah, if you want..."

Maggie looks back and forth at both of them. Jasper's eyes glaze over, and he's obviously imagining it. A smile curls on the one side of his mouth.

Maggie scoffs, but surprisingly agrees. "I suppose... we could try," she says hesitantly, but she whips back to Jasper with a stern glare. "But only if Jasper can stop drooling."


	2. Protector

AN: Written for the "Surprsie" theme at fanfic_bakeoff on Livejournal. Word Count: 300. Rating: PG. Pairing: Jasper/Henry. No spoilers.

Protector

Jasper woke with a start that night, but was promptly subdued with Henry's hand over his mouth. He felt Henry's weight over him, and he realized with some awkward surprise that the boy was straddling him. On his bed.

"Shh!" Henry hissed in a whisper. "There's a spider on you."

Jasper murmured fearfully against Henry's hand, but his cousin shot him a reassuring look that he had things under control.

"I'm going to take him out the window," Henry whispered, still staring intently at the spider.

Jasper spoke against Henry's hand as he slowly pulled it away. "Mmph...why haven't you yet?" Jasper demanded anxiously.

"He's staring at me," Henry said, and he watched the spider without flinching. "I've been trying to find the right moment."

"Just do it!" Jasper panicked. Finally, Henry sighed, drawing the spider carefully away, but he still straddled Jasper, unmoving as he now looked at the spider in his hand.

"Uh, Henry, you're still... on top of me," Jasper coughed. Wow, that sounded _so_ dirty.

Amused, Henry met Jasper's eyes. "I guess I am."

Slowly, his cousin shifted away from his spot and liberated the spider. Jasper almost missed the warmth of Henry's weight, and he felt dizzy when Henry looked back at him through the dark as his night vision kicked in.

"Thanks," Jasper whispered, and when he caught Henry still watching him, he mumbled something as his cousin curiously tilted his head. "Are you coming back?" He hated sounding needy but the idea of spiders in his bed freaked him out. He needed a _protector_...

"Do you want me to?" Henry asked softly, but he was already making his way back.

"Who else is going to _stare_ the spiders out of my bed?" And Jasper was already drawing the covers over Henry's head.


	3. Fan Club

AN: Written for the "Surprise" theme at fanfic_bakeoff on Livejournal. Rating: G. Word Count: 300. Spoilers for episode 1.12.

Fan Club

"I guarantee he's not going to care," Jasper told Maggie with a sigh, but her worry didn't subside.

"I still think we should tell him," she said, biting her lip.

"Mags, honestly, Henry probably won't even be surprised," Jasper said with a huff. "If anything he'll have no idea what it is." Jasper droned, and they tried to put on smiling, innocent faces as Henry approached them.

"Hey guys," he said, furrowing his brow. As usual, Henry was good at reading them when something was up. "What's wrong?"

"We don't know how to tell you this, Henry..." Maggie started.

"Linden started a fan club about you on Facebook," Jasper said quickly with a small laugh. "Isn't that freaky?"

"Oh," Henry looked at him curiously. "But why would he do that? I like fans alright, but not enough to endorse a club." Maggie gaped at him, and Jasper threw up his hands.

"No, idiot! He started a club about _you_ after you defeated the cyclops."

Henry smiled, but Jasper and Maggie were the ones surprised.

"Are you blushing?" Jasper asked.

"I'm _not_ blushing," Henry denied. "It's really no big deal."

"No big deal?" Maggie asked, awed at his humility."You have your own fan club, which means anything could happen, autographs, photos...popularity."

"Yeah," Jasper snorted. "All of us save a prehistoric bug, and you get a fan club, but what do I get?"

"Arianna Gish," Maggie said, and instantly Jasper's expression flew happily into the clouds. "And ... I got more party planning jobs."

"See? Your rewards are much better than mine," Henry said. "All I got was..."

"Linden..." Jasper laughed rudely. "Wow, maybe you _are_ right."

Henry glared at him. "Whatever you're implying, I certainly don't want Linden the way you have Arianna."

Maggie remarked teasingly, "Tell that to Linden."


	4. Warmth

AN: Written for the "detail" theme at fanfic_bakeoff on Livejournal. Pairing: Maggie/Jasper. Rating: G. Word Count: 300. Season finale spoilers.

+O+

Warmth

The winds roared outside their tent, and Maggie shifted uncomfortably in their make-shift beds. Somehow, she got stuck in the middle with Henry and Jasper on her sides as they retired that evening.

Henry politely shifted onto his side and made sure to give her as much personal space as possible, but Jasper's space was a different story.

She wished they weren't so close, but she couldn't complain about the size of the tent now, and she couldn't just retreat outside into the perilous windstorms.

Jasper sensed her unease, so he shifted and turned his back to her, and immediately, Maggie regretted hurting his feelings, which she must have done by the last look she saw on his face. The poor boy was lonely enough. Arianna had dumped him before their trip, and despite Henry trying everything he could to cheer him up, it was hard to distract Jasper from reality. She'd go mad if he said "at least I have my friends" as a ploy for sympathy again.

Maggie tapped his shoulder, and Jasper turned toward her, curiously meeting her eyes as they settled under the covers. "Hey," she said, and Jasper smiled at her, and if she wasn't careful, she'd get trapped into the details of his face again. She always did like Jasper's eyes.

"What's wrong? Can't sleep?" Jasper asked, and Maggie shook her head.

"No, just cold," she said, and she knew she'd probably regret her words. Or would she?

"C'mere," he whispered, and he opened his arms up to her. When Maggie settled against his chest, she closed her eyes. He felt all too warm and comfortable like home.

And if Maggie could see the other side of her, she'd see that Henry was smiling, obviously delighted on what the future would bring them both.


	5. Comfortable

AN: Written for the un_history fic fest on Livejournal. Prompt: "accidentally sharing a bed (ie accidentally falling asleep watching a movie, etc)." Word Count: 495. Pairing: Henry/Jasper. Rating: PG.

Comfortable

Jasper snickered lightly as the movie ended, and he realized that his cousin, who was curled up next to him under the warm blanket, seemed very still next to him. Both of them were wrapped up warmly on the futon-turned-bed in the living room, and when Henry didn't move as he scooted closer, Jasper turned, wondering if he had fallen asleep during the movie. (How could he? _The Hangover_ was like the funniest movie ever!) He shifted against him in the bed to inspect, and he noticed his cousin's even breathing. Was he faking? And why would he?

Finally Jasper poked him, lightly at first but then the poking turned into a moderate succession of pokes, and his cousin still didn't budge.

It was almost like he was ..._dead_.

Jasper bit his lip. He hoped to God Henry wasn't trying to freak him out by doing that thing again where he stopped his heart. Jasper sucked in a heavy, anxious breath.

One eye opened, and Jasper relaxed as Henry smirked at him, seemingly alert.

"Dude, don't do that," he scolded annoyed.

"I was trying to sleep. Also, your breath smells like goat cheese," Henry said bluntly.

Jasper stiffened defensively. "I can't help it. I'm addicted to these cheesy soy chips."

"In that case," Henry said, sitting up in the bed. "Why don't you share?" He reached across Jasper's lap only to retrieve an empty plastic bag. Jasper met his eyes sheepishly.

"Oops?" Jasper said, and Henry sighed. "Hey if you're hungry we can go to the kitchen and make something. I'll help," Jasper suggested brightly.

Henry stared at him, and he retreated back under the covers pouting. "I don't want to move. It's too warm here."

Jasper rolled his eyes. "We _can't_ stay here. We have to go up to bed anyway."

Henry's brow furrowed. "We do?" Suddenly, he threw the cover back over Jasper's head, and everything went dark. Jasper inhaled with surprise as he felt Henry's warm breath on his face.

"I can't believe you want to stay here - _you_, the guy who can't sleep soundly unless he's in a hammock," Jasper scoffed at him.

Throwing an arm over his chest (though it was by no means intrusive, Jasper thought) Henry snuggled up against him and yawned loudly.

"I guess I'm starting to adjust to normalcy then," Henry said tiredly.

Jasper tensed underneath his touch, but he had to admit, he really didn't want his cousin to pull away. He felt warm, relaxing, and kind of nice.

"You call this normal?" Jasper said, joking to ease his own tension. (Henry didn't seem to feel awkward in this situation at all.)

Henry shifted even closer, so close that Jasper could hear his whisper against his ear. "Go to sleep, Jasper. If this isn't normal enough for you, then it should be."

Well, Henry had him there; locked under his arm and drunk on his warmth, Jasper had no choice but to oblige him.


	6. Group Dynamics

AN: Written for the ficfest at un_history on Livejournal. Prompt: Hunter - outside looking in. Word Count: 410. Genre: Humor/Genfic. Rated: PG.

Group Dynamics

Hunter always knew there was something up with these three. At first he thought it was something _weird_, like they were all doing each other or something, but then he realized they were just a bunch of crazy freaks. Unfortunately for him, he seemed to be drawn into their brand of trouble as well, and unwillingly he often experienced some of their bad luck.

Jungleboy would have called it karma, which Hunter readily scoffed at. (What a dork!)

After spending a summer pleasantly dork-free, Hunter came back to school only to be once again thrown into their little group, in whatever weird situation they had gotten themselves into, and he was now silently promising himself that he would change once they got out of this stupid basement in the museum in which they were trapped.

Hunter promised that he would tease Jasper less, avoid flirting with Maggie and just altogether leave Henry Griffin alone.

They really were bad mojo, and by the looks of things, they seemed to get in trouble quite a lot.

"So what's the deal with you guys? Do you think you're super heroes or something?" Hunter mocked after some angry, uncomfortable silence in the hot room.

Jasper sneered at him. "Yeah, something like that."

"I bet you wear the gay tights as well," he said pointedly, looking at Maggie with a smirk. "Though it wouldn't be that bad for all of you." She shot him the look of Death.

"I suppose you can say we're like a hero team." Henry turned to Jasper, oddly obliging Hunter and not feeling the brunt of his teasing. "Didn't you compare us one time to the X-People?"

"_X-Men_," Jasper corrected, and Hunter saw the boy's instant embarrassment. He instantly shrugged, trying to play it off. "Maggie has super intelligence, I have technology smarts, and well, you are the muscle."

Henry nodded. "That's right. I remember now."

Suddenly, Hunter felt weirdly out of place. The three of them grinned at each other, almost forgetting his presence altogether, and he had this strange yearning to feel included.

Finally, he said, "Hey, that's cool. What about me? Where do I fit in?" He flexed his biceps, seemingly to usurp Henry of his "muscle" title.

Instantly he saw Jasper and Maggie frown. Jungleboy looked perplexed.

"Well," Maggie started, and Hunter knew that at least Winnock would say something nice.

However, stupid Bartlett butted in, smiling condescendingly. "Oh, Hunter - you're _totally_ the comedy relief."


	7. Accidental Tourists

AN: Written for the fic fest at un_history on Livejournal. Prompt: "They're in Henry's world now. Since going with Henry, Maggie and Jasper have to get used to being the ones that don't fit in, while Henry does." Genre: Genfic. Word Count: 614. Rating: PG. Post-series.

Accidental Tourists

Maggie looked down at her plate of food and wrinkled her nose. "Henry, my food is _moving_," she complained, and she turned to Henry who wasn't even paying attention. He was arguing with one of the owners in Mandarin. She was about to be impressed that he actually knew the language, but she was too busy being freaked out by her food. She turned to Jasper.

His face was white as a sheet. With wide eyes he shook his head at her vigorously. He leaned closer and whispered, "Best not to complain. I think the cook will actually _kill _us if we don't eat his food."

"I thought you were starving," Henry chimed in, and Maggie was thankful he was paying attention to them again.

"I am, but...not for food like this," Maggie said. "I think I'd rather starve." Henry cocked his head at her.

"I know it's not like American food, but we were lost-"

"Your fault, not ours," Jasper butted in.

"Anyway, we were lost and Ying and Huojin were kind enough to spare us some food. Without money," Henry said. "Now look, I made a deal with them that we could even get this food."

Maggie poked at the food around the moving cabbage with her chopsticks and inhaled a brave breath. Jasper watched her with wonder, anxious to see if she was actually going to do it. She took a bite, winced at the strange crunch between her teeth, and she quickly swallowed, trying to bypass her taste buds as much as she could.

Jasper sighed in relief, as if he was experienced every horror with her. "So," he said in a chipper voice, clicking his chopsticks. He didn't even look at the pile of food he was picking up before he put it in his mouth. (Maggie wondered if ignorance really was bliss in this case.) "What kind of deal did you make with the host and hostess?"

Jasper grinned brightly, but Maggie could sense his dread. They were in Henry's world now - lost in a foreign country that they did not know - and though Henry was in his element, they started to feel like fish out of water. Maggie started to miss Washington D.C. right now and the whole food stores she had frequented.

At least the food didn't crawl over her plate, and she had the blissful choice not to eat anything animal-related (or even insect-related in this case).

"Well, just a few chores really," Henry said, and Maggie could sense he was holding back. She glared at him pointedly, and he continued. "I also have to collect money from a bad patron down the street in this village." He forced a smile. "How bad could it be?"

Jasper was white again. Maggie was ready to scream, but she turned to Jasper as he exhaled a heavily and watched the chopsticks in his hand shake with fear.

"You guys don't have to come with me," Henry said to them. "You can stay here and wash dishes or help with prepping food. I'll take care of the collection business."

"You know we can't let you do that!" Maggie protested, but Henry shook his head.

"Be glad it isn't worse," Henry said encouragingly.

Jasper's voice squeaked when he laughed. "Yeah, _glad._.." Jasper turned to him and hissed angrily, "I'm glad they didn't kill us or sell us into slavery!"

"Now, now, it's not that bad here," Henry said, and Jasper and Maggie looked over at the owner staring at them in the corner.

When he cracked his knuckles and growled at them, Jasper dropped his chopsticks. Maggie opened her arms, catching him when he fainted.

END


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